The American Samoa Telecommunications Authority (ASTCA) will use the Calix Unified Access Portfolio and Calix Professional Services offerings to in its Broadband Linking the American Samoa Territory (BLAST) Project, according to Calix, Inc. (NYSE: CALX).
The BLAST project aims to deliver advanced broadband services across the islands of American Samoa via a see fiber to the premises (FTTP) network. The network will be built to serve more than 11,500 residences, businesses, and anchor institutions.
ASTCA received a $91 million Broadband Initiatives Program (BIP) award from the USDA Rural Utilities Service (RUS) that combined a grant and loan for plant engineering, materials, labor, and other costs, including access equipment. ASTCA will spend part of these funds for Calix’s C7 Multiservice Access Platform (MSAP) and E7 Ethernet Service Access Platforms (ESAPs), as well as the 700GE family of optical network terminals (ONTs). The hardware will enable the network to deliver broadband services via GPON, and provide 10 Gigabit Ethernet network transport throughout the islands.
The Calix Professional Services team will serve as the program manager for the BLAST Project as well. As part of its program management, Calix is coordinating a multi-vendor partnership to bring a complete IPTV package, from hardware to content, to ASTCA. As the project progresses, Calix will be working closely with Mid-State Consultants to help complete central office construction by the end of 2012.
"The BLAST project will forever change the way of life for the residents, businesses, and visitors of American Samoa, bringing to our subscribers a world-class broadband services infrastructure and furthering economic development across the islands," stated Aleki Sene Sr., executive director of ASTCA. "With Calix solutions already deployed in our Fagatogo and Fagaitua central offices, we feel confident in their EXA Powered solutions, their strong industry partnerships, and their program management capabilities will allow us to successfully transform our network to deliver advanced and reliable broadband services to our customers. Beyond advanced services, this state-of-the-art fiber access network will also greatly improve our ability to provide emergency services."
Many of the islands of American Samoa were devastated by a tsunami after an 8.0 magnitude earthquake in the Pacific Ocean in September 2009. In addition to providing broadband services, the FTTP network will be better able to withstand extreme weather conditions and enable advanced early warning systems.
"ASTCA is committed to delivering the most advanced broadband services throughout American Samoa," said John Colvin, senior vice president of North American sales and marketing at Calix. "Transforming the network to a predominantly fiber infrastructure will help ensure the BLAST Project improves the lives of residents, drives business development, and gives American Samoa an advantage in the global marketplace for years to come. We are looking forward to kicking off this ambitious project with ASTCA and playing an active role in the transformation of both the network and the entire community."
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